Low Income Taxpayer Clinic

Students in the Tax Clinic represent low-income taxpayers from Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming and Nevada in controversies with the Internal Revenue Service. The Tax Clinic also operates programs to inform persons for whom English is a second language of their federal tax rights and responsibilities.

The Tax Clinic was developed in response to the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, in which Congress authorized the IRS to make matching fund grants to qualified organizations (such as law schools) for the development, continuation or expansion of qualified low-income taxpayer clinics.

To date, Tax Clinic students have represented tax payers in a wide range of controversies with the IRS, ranging from initial notices and problems receiving refunds, to appeals, to Tax Court litigation, to offers-in-compromise. It is important to note that the Tax Clinic is not involved in tax return preparation — the College of Law has a VITA group that prepares returns for low- to moderate-income taxpayers. Also, because it is primarily concerned with the resolution of federal tax controversies, the Tax Clinic only represents clients in state or local tax matters if those matters relate to the client’s federal tax dispute.

The majority of the cases handled by the Tax Clinic have involved the representation of individuals before the United States Tax Court. To date, Tax Clinic students have conducted trials and otherwise litigated cases on behalf of taxpayers before the U.S. Tax Court in Boise, Idaho; Pocatello, Idaho; Cheyenne, Wyo.; Helena, Mont.; Billings, Mont.; Reno, Nev.; Las Vegas, Nev.; and Salt Lake City, Utah.

Contact

If you would like more information about the Tax Clinic, or if you would like the Tax Clinic to consider representing you in a controversy with the IRS, please contact Barbara Lock in Boise at block@uidaho.edu, or (208) 364-4074.